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As you can see, I’m back from a little blogging holiday. My tattoo healed great and I’ve been so busy this past week I haven’t had time to update FSB, my bad. My mum’s had an op on her foot so I’ve been rushed off my feet keeping the house spick and span while she’s resting up. This week has been a running week as a way of keeping my dogs entertained so I’ve done a 3km which I forgot to time (d’oh!) and a 2.5km in 34 minutes. When I was running several times a week I’d be doing 5km in 35 minutes, so although I’ve been keeping cardio up in the form of Insanity, I’m still well and truly lagging behind my former running self! My one dog, Atreyu, absolutely adores running so he kept up fine considering we’re both really out of practise but my other dog has never been enthusiastic. In the past he’s just leant against his collar and refused but this week he’s been really good and followed me, albeit not very fast.

If I’ve got time tomorrow, Dan and I will be weightlifting and I’ll also hopefully post my healthy fruit muffin recipe – well, if I can remember it!

Friday’s run on the icy roads was certainly an interesting one but it was lovely to have some company for once other than my dog. Dan and I picked this route in the hope it wouldn’t be too icy, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been but I did slip a bit and had to walk some of the way. I do hate it when the air is so cold it hurts your lungs to breathe in.

Distance ran 2.5km, excluding walking warm up and cool down
Time running: 21:17

Today’s surfing lesson was postponed until tomorrow because the waves were too small. I thought it was pretty good of the surfing company to call and be honest that I would be disappointed if I went today, another company would have probably taken my money anyway. So if tomorrow’s swell is better, I’ll be having my first ever surfing lesson at 4pm. I’m excited, but mostly nervous and wondering what the hell I’m going to do about my glasses, haha.

So instead I went for a run, the beach was very quiet because it had been raining lightly on and off all day and the British spend most of the time complaining about the weather when it’s sunny and the rest of the time avoiding the rain like a plague. Having a horse that needs looking after and two dogs that need walking daily, I have had to get used to all weather. Naturally I’d prefer warm, dry weather but I won’t dissolve out in the rain so I’m happy out in that too.

Running on sand for the first time was quite an experience. I was cringing at the thought of how stinky my running shoes are going to be after having wet sand in them, but I’ll deal. I must have been tenser than usual trying to adjust and keep my core stability because I found my shoulders to be tense and stiff afterwards. My calves didn’t protest like I expected them to, but I definitely got some feedback from my gluteus maximus!

The path after the beach was a typical British coastal path; undulating with unstable ground and packed full of tourists. Between catching my breath running up the steep hills and trying to politely overtake people out for an afternoon stroll, I was holding my ab muscles steady to keep my balance and thankfully it worked as I didn’t trip.

When I turned around and went back, I ran on the beach barefoot and ankle-deep in the ocean, it was absolutely blissful being able to cool my tired feet in the water and I had to keep reminding myself I’d ruin my Gymboss if I were to jump in completely. My sister can vouch for me when I say I am like a labrador, if you take me around water, I will absolutely have to be in it and it always makes me inexplicably happy.

I can’t wait to try surfing tomorrow or sometime this week and hopefully being able to jump in the sea one day after my run. It’ll probably have to be after Thom gets here because I’ll have to persuade him to hold my Gymboss while I run into the ocean and dive a la Baywatch.

As the title suggests, this morning was my last run at home before I go on holiday. I’m really excited to find cool runs along the jagged coastline of Cornwall and getting up early to run through the seaside town while everyone else is still sleeping – a sentence only my fitness buddies will understand, haha. Looking forward to running? On holiday?! Yes, don’t mind if I do. I just need to figure out how to bring enough powder for my protein shakes without it somehow exploding all over my clothes during transit.

It’s been a good while since I ran over 2km, probably a month or so. So I wanted to run 4km to see what state my running stamina is in since my break and how prepared I am for the 5km charity run this month. I did pretty good, I wasn’t struggling but I didn’t find it easy either, I just focused on a steady pace and enjoying the sunshine rather than trying to achieve times I’ve previously set when I was running 5 and 6km with a pace of roughly 6.5 minutes per km.

I’d say today was more of a jog than what I consider to be my running speed. The treadmills at the gym say a jogging speed is 6km/ph and a running speed is 9km/ph, today’s run would have been somewhere in between, but it felt more like a jog to me because I was more laid back and focusing specifically on form and my thoughts rather than speed and distance.

As a “See you in two weeks, Lucy!” my familiar running track stung my legs thoroughly with nettles, remind me to wear tracksuit bottoms next time I go!

Distance ran – 2.3km (not including the walk to/from my house)
Total time from leaving the front door to returning – 20:06:37
Warm up – 2:19:27
Time spent running – 15:22 (didn’t catch the milliseconds as sweat was in my eyes!)
Walk home/cool down – 3:45

Bloody hell it is humid today! I was sweating bucket loads so I made sure my stretching when I got home was super long because of how warm my muscles will have gotten.

I’m back on form and kicking ass, so much so Trey struggled to keep up with me the first kilometre. I managed to beat my time on Tuesday by over four minutes (it was 20:04 Tues) and my average pace today was 6:40 secs per km so going that quickly I sure felt how warm the air is! I had two choices – to go a longer distance but at a slower pace or to go the same route/distance as I did last time but at a pace I was used to before I got ill. I decided to go with the latter because I’ve still got a ruck of work to do before I finish for the day so I needed a quick exercise fix.

Same body, same angles (except I forgot to do my back, d’oh!), different location and different attire.

As you know, I do body progress shots in a bikini to show that I’m not using tricks of a camera or any fancy slimming clothing to make my figure look different. However, it occurred to me that, although it is great to show myself in such a way to mark progress, it doesn’t give a realistic view of how I look in day to day life. So every once in a while, I’ll be shooting pics wearing clothing. Today I snapped some pics after my run and cool down, so I’m wearing my running attire.

You can see the starts of a thigh gap. Though not important to me as huge thigh muscles are more my sort of thing, it’s still pretty good that it is fat loss causing the thigh gap. I’m wondering whether in time, muscles will fill the gap again or whether it will become bigger as I lose more fat and gain more muscle.

I am ridiculously happy with my progress, especially considering I’ve had to cut down to working out 3x a week and took some time off completely while I was ill. This is why it is so important to take regular photos to document your journey because you don’t often notice the changes when looking at yourself in the mirror every day. So try posting some body progress pics in a bikini (if you’re a fellow female) or topless and in shorts if you’re a guy AND some pics in snug-fitting (but not tight) clothing to gain a different perspective.

I can’t believe the different I’m getting in my thighs, that’s the weightlifting and running for you! I’ll be posting my usual bikini body progress either tonight or tomorrow once Thom gets here so I can take proper photos (self timer is so hit and miss).

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Lucy

About my blog

My name's Lucy, I'm 21 years old and from the UK.
This is my online journal of my fitness progress, I will also be posting inspirational pictures, quotes, information, work outs, videos, health articles and recipes.
You can find more about me here.

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